The University of Alberta Hospital’s Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute (Maz) began receiving patients in July of 2009, building on a legacy of 54 years of cardiac leadership at the University of Alberta Hospital. The success of the Maz is only possible because of amazing community support.
One in four dollars to help build the Maz was provided by donors to the University Hospital Foundation. And $33 million has been raised since the Maz opened, for a total of more than $80 million. These gifts have been used to advance patient care, research and education at this incredible facility.
As the leading heart institute in western Canada, the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute has the best and brightest healthcare team to care for the most complex and chronic cardiac patients. Patients come to the Maz from not only Edmonton, but all over northern Alberta, northern British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Yukon and Northwest Territories.
The Maz is also one of only a few heart institutes in North America equipped to accommodate both adult and pediatric heart patients. And the Maz is the only centre in northern Alberta to provide care to patients requiring advanced treatment for cardiac and respiratory failure.
To provide gold standard care that covers the diverse and personal needs of every patient, the Maz utilizes a broad, team based approach to patient care. Meetings are held twice a day in which doctors share the stage with social workers, dieticians, nurses, physiotherapists, rehabilitation specialists, pharmacists and other experts in related fields. This way, patients have their entire well being and health addressed by a multi-disciplinary team.
“By volume we have the second-biggest life support program in the country.”
Dr. Gurmeet Singh, Intensivist
Back in the early 2000’s, when western Canada’s newest heart institute was still under construction in Edmonton, a committee was formed to give it a name. Not just any name, but one that would give the facility immediate prominence and respect not only in Alberta but across Canada and beyond.
Like Don Mazankowski himself, medical teams at the Maz are known for their compassion, integrity, commitment and skill. No challenge is too big, or too small. And when the chips are down, they’re at their best.
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